Trump Downplays US Casualties from Iranian Attack

Dozens of U.S. troops were withdrawn from Iraq this week after 11 soldiers were wounded during the Iranian attack on two bases, a U.S. official told Reuters on the condition of anonymity.

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According to the official that spoke to Reuters on Wednesday, the soldiers were transported from Iraq to the U.S. military bases in Germany. 

Meanwhile, earlier in the day, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters during the World Economic Forum (WEF) that he did not consider the injuries suffered by from the Iranian attack to be significant. 

“I heard that they had headaches and a couple of other things, but I would say and I can report it is not very serious,” Trump told a news conference in Davos, Switzerland. “I don’t consider them very serious injuries relative to other injuries I have seen,” Trump said. “I’ve seen people with no legs and no arms.”

Asked whether he considered traumatic brain injury to be serious, Trump said: “They told me about it numerous days later. You’d have to ask the Department of Defense.”

In a statement on Wednesday, U.S. Central Command said that more troops had been flown out of Iraq to Germany for medical evaluations following Iran’s Jan. 8 missile attack on the base where U.S. forces were stationed after announcing the 11 injuries last week. Further injuries may be identified in the future, it added, without giving further details.

Trump and other top officials initially said Iran’s attack had not killed or injured any U.S. service members before the Pentagon reversed course on Thursday, saying 11 U.S. troops had been treated for concussion symptoms after the attack on the Ain al-Asad air base in western Iraq.

The U.S. has had an active military presence in Iraq since their invasion in 2003 to oust former president Saddam Hussein from power.